The gospel of Jesus Christ frees us from the bondage of religious requirements.
You see, there were fakers among the true believers. The fakers were insisting that the true believers still needed to do something before they would actually be acceptable by God. Specifically, the fakers taught that they must be circumcised. But Paul and Titus weren't buying it. They weren't going to be fooled by these people who obviously didn't believe in the grace of Jesus Christ.
Who knew religious requirements better than Paul? He was a Jew of the Jews. He exceeded all his peers in his pursuit of religious zeal. He willingly placed himself under the requirements of the law and followed them very strictly. But all that changed when he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.
Paul, like so many of us, understood that to be loved and accepted by God, we must bring something of worth to God that he will find pleasing. So often the things we believe are most pleasing to God are religious ceremony, rights, and passages. Paul really believed in his mind and heart that his service toward God earned him favor with God. But this is not the gospel at all. In fact, it teaches us the complete opposite.
The gospel teaches us that we can do nothing to please God, nor can we offer anything to earn favor with God. We cannot earn God's love and we cannot buy God's mercy. Forgiveness can only be acquired by the will and mercy of God the Father alone. But why is this true?
If you read the old testament you will clearly see why Paul believed he must do so much for God: In it we find that God has placed a tremendous burden on mankind. We learn in the old testament that God will only accept us and love us if we are perfect and remain perfect. If we ever stop being perfect even for a moment then he will not love us anymore. In fact, he will cast us away like garbage. This is indeed an impossible task, and yet, we naively believe that we can live up to that expectation.
This is the beauty of the new testament, or new covenant. In it, we learn that Jesus Christ has fulfilled every single requirement laid out in the old testament. He has not done away with it, he has fulfilled it: The old law is complete in Jesus Christ. But the best news comes next. Not only did Jesus Christ completely fulfill all the requirements of perfection found in the old testament, but he now invites us to share the benefits of his achievement! And guess what the cost of entry is... Nothing! Jesus paid that too with his own blood.
The new testament teaches us that all the God pleasing religious requirements have been accomplished in Jesus Christ. There is nothing left for us to do. So when God says that we are saved by grace through faith, you can take that to the bank. And that's exactly what Paul did.
When Paul became a Christian he was immediately released from the chains of religious bondage. He understood the freedom he had been granted in Jesus Christ. He believed in Jesus by the grace of God and nothing else was required of him. So when false brethren came to spy out his freedom in Christ he paid them no attention, not even for an hour.
"And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." (Galatians 2:4-5)
You see, there were fakers among the true believers. The fakers were insisting that the true believers still needed to do something before they would actually be acceptable by God. Specifically, the fakers taught that they must be circumcised. But Paul and Titus weren't buying it. They weren't going to be fooled by these people who obviously didn't believe in the grace of Jesus Christ.
Even today we still receive counsel from false brethren around the world who spy out our freedom and then try to make us bondage to their form of worship and religious rights. The Bible is clear: Do not fall prey to their trickery. Unfortunately that is more easily said than done.
Peter, who was an apostle and perceived pillar of the early church, could not keep himself completely pure from false teachers either. In fact, when Peter withdrew himself from fellowship with the Gentiles, he also carried away other disciples into his error with him. It wasn't until Paul withstood him to his face to confront his error that things were resolved.
Christian, much of the new testament teaches us about these two things: 1) Our great liberty in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and 2) to be careful of false teachers. Even a large part of Peter's epistles were written to encourage us to know the salvation we have been called into so that we can avoid those who seek to take advantage of our freedom."For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation." (Galatians 2:12-13)
With love,"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Galatians 2:9)
Jay Silvas
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